Michelle Aldredge recently interviewed Mary Johnson, author of An Unquenchable Thirst and a former nun who served with Mother Teresa until the age of 39.  Aldridge writes at her (super fantastic site) Gwarlingo.com:

With so many stories in the news about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, the investigation of American nuns, and the Pope’s recent retirement, Johnson’s memoir, An Unquenchable Thirst, offers a rare and provocative glimpse inside an institution that typically remains hidden from public view. The political maneuvering and willingness to turn a blind eye to harmful, even criminal, behavior that Johnson describes should not come as a surprise, and yet it does.

If you’re a fan of the writers Karen Armstrong or Kathleen Norris, I highly recommend An Unquenchable Thirst. Johnson is compassionate in her criticism, but portrays a religious institution in the midst of an identity crisis. As Johnson shows us, even saints have their faults, and a rabid focus on suffering is not only demoralizing for those who serve the Church, but ultimately to the Catholic religion as a whole.

You can listen to their conversation here.

Gwarlingo has a brilliant weekly “Sunday Poem” email you should sign up for.  And while you’re there, throw a buck or two at the Gwarlingo fundraiser!

Image: Sister Donata (Mary Joynson) with Mother Teresa at her first profession of vows, in Rome, June 8, 1980, via gwarlingo.com